I Know
by Harmony Sunsinger
Summary: Written for iy wiltedrose's prompt: Betrayal. All of your careful planning, Inuyasha, to keep me sheltered from your betrayal; I’ll bet you never figured out how much I do truly know.


Title: I Know.

Author: Sun

Pairing: InuKik, InuKag

Rating: Reserved

Genre: AU

Word Count: 700

Summary: All of your careful planning, Inuyasha, to keep me sheltered from your betrayal; I'll bet you never figured out how much I do truly know.

A/N: This _could_ be connected to The One Night Stand, but it isn't really; in that story, Kikyo has just died, and Mitsukai was born _after_ her death. In this oneshot, that is obviously not the case.

_Dearest Inuyasha,_

_I know that there have been times when we weren't as close as we probably should have been. There have been times when I have kept secrets from you, and you have them from me._

_But, somehow, we always managed to turn right back around, confess those secrets, and get back to our normal way of life._

_That has changed._

_There is a secret I have been guarding for several years now, and I refuse to tell you. It is the true reason I cannot bear you any children, the true reason I cannot give you a large family to call your own, separate from your father and your elder half-brother._

_Some years ago, right after we met and began our relationship, I was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Suddenly all of my horribly painful headaches, my frequent nosebleeds, my memory problems… all of it made sense right then and there, as I sat in that doctor's office and barely listened as he explained possible treatments._

_I am not a fool, Inuyasha, and you should do well to remember that I never have been. You will feel hurt and betrayed as you sit there, reading this letter, but you must know that this is not the original letter that I left for you, here in my last will and testament. I had to replace the other because something recently came to light, and that something is what you have been hiding from me._

_So feel no betrayal from me, Inuyasha. You betrayed me as well._

_The other Miko is beautiful, I must give it to you. But she looks so much like me, I must wonder if that was your intent the entire time; to create a child with, at the very least, someone with spectacular resemblance to me. To have the family I could not give you._

_I saw the girl. The small, beautiful infant girl who is now the only one in the world with the right – no, the privilege to call you her chichi. She looks just like Kagome, Inuyasha, but she also looks so much like you. Kagome was shocked to see me; she just stammered out some poorly conceived lie that the girl in the stroller was, in fact, your brother Sesshomaru's._

_Again, know that I am not a fool, Inuyasha._

_I have known since the beginning that the child was yours. You and Kagome actually seem quite compatible, and, if you two so decide, she can give you that family you crave – that family that anyone with eyes could see that you more than deserve._

_So, with that said, Inuyasha, I only ask that you please forgive my indiscretions._

_I have already forgiven yours._

_Sincerely, your Kikyo._

Kagome's hand covered her mouth, trying to hide the tiny gasp of surprise that had passed her lips upon reading the letter. It was so deep and genuine; she hadn't truly known that Inuyasha's late wife had known such emotion. She wondered briefly if Inuyasha had read it.

'Baka!' she cursed at herself in her mind, staring down at the paper in her hand. 'Of course he has! It was kept in her will until she died, and, obviously, that's when Inuyasha received it.'

She heard footsteps coming down the hallway, so Kagome hurriedly threw the folded letter back into the open drawer and closed it, spinning to meet Inuyasha's curious gaze.

He gave her a puzzled look. "What are you up to in here that has you looking so guilty?" he asked her, coming forward. She shifted a little, and Inuyasha could just sense her anxiety.

"Seriously," he said, eyeing her. "Kagome, tell me what's wrong?"

"Nothing!" she exclaimed, her voice high-pitched from the lie she was telling. She cleared her throat and let out a fake giggle. "Nothing at all!" Kagome practically ran from the awkward scene, tearing down the hall as if death itself were chasing her.

Inuyasha looked around the large, quiet bedroom; to his human eyes, there was nothing amiss.

"Dad!"

The brown-eyed, silver-haired quarter-demon girl was beckoning. He had to go to her.

He whirled around, flicking off the lights, closing the door, and leaving the solemn bedroom behind.


End file.
